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Photo Gallery: Saturn

Saturn Mosaic

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

A total of 126 images taken over the course of two hours make up this mosaic picture of Saturn. The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft snapped the photos on October 6, 2004, when it was approximately 3.9 million miles (6.3 million kilometers) from Saturn. Cassini was on a four-year mission to explore the ringed planet.

Saturn and Moons

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Two of Saturn's 48 known moons are barely visible in this picture of the ringed planet. Mimas, at the upper right, has an enormous impact crater on one side, and Tethys, at the bottom, has a huge rift zone called Ithaca Chasma that runs nearly three-quarters of the way around the moon.

Saturn Cloud System

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Lit from below by Saturn's internal thermal glow, clearings in the planet's cloud system appear as white pearls. The regularity of the clearings suggests that they may be a manifestation of a large planetary wave.

Saturn's Rings

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn's otherworldly rings encircle the planet and extend out for hundreds of thousands of kilometers. The rings—there are thousands—are made up of billions of ice and rock particles, thought to be pieces of comets, asteroids, or shattered moons.

Saturn's North Pole

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

A six-sided feature encircles Saturn's north pole in this 2006 image. The hexagon was first observed in the early 1980s, proving that the feature—whatever it is—is long lived. This photo was taken using Saturn's thermal glow, hence the red hue.

Saturn's Glow

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Saturn's rings appear blue in this false-color image taken from Cassini. The planet's northern hemisphere is about twice as bright as its southern hemisphere, because high-level, fine particles are about half as prevalent in the northern hemisphere as in the south. These particles block Saturn's glow more strongly, making it look brighter in the north.

Saturn Rings, Northern Latitudes

Photograph by NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

The Cassini spacecraft surveys Saturn's outstretched ring system in infrared from a vantage point high above the planet's northern latitudes. Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune also have rings, but Saturn's are by far the largest and most spectacular.

Saturn Clouds

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Clouds swirl on Saturn, the second largest planet in our solar system. Like its bigger neighbor Jupiter, Saturn is a gas planet made mostly of hydrogen and helium. Its magnetic field is 578 times more powerful than Earth's.

Saturn's Northern Hemisphere

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn's northern hemisphere appears blue in this natural-color photograph taken by Cassini in December 2004. During its four-year tour of Saturn, Cassini will complete 74 orbits of the ringed planet and 44 close flybys of the moon Titan.

Saturn Moon Mimas

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

On moon Mimas, the enormous Herschel Crater spans 80 miles (130 kilometers)—one-third of the moon's entire surface. The peak in the middle of the crater is about as tall as Mount Everest. The impact that made this crater likely almost destroyed Mimas.